Chatter

Elf Awareness
For Liv Tyler, portraying the radiant elf princess Arwen in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers fell far short of being an ethereal experience. "My ears were itching, my robes weighed too much, and they were hot," says Tyler, 25. "I would start a take acting all graceful, and then I would trip on my robes." Worse, the actress couldn't escape Middle Earth on the set of her next film, Jersey Girl, the upcoming romantic comedy with Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez. "I love [director] Kevin Smith, but he was obsessed with me speaking Elvish," says Tyler of the language created by Rings writer J.R.R. Tolkien. "Every day he asked me to talk like my character. I tried, but the truth is I can't speak it. I could just say my lines from Rings, which was enough for Kevin. He would turn bright red and get weak in the knees."

Stealing Beauty
To play a professional pickpocket in Gangs of New York, Cameron Diaz learned the tricks of the trade from an expert. "I had a gentleman we called the Magician help me," says Diaz, 30, who costars with Leonardo DiCaprio in the historical drama. "He was a pickpocket for 30-some-odd years. He earned his living that way. He taught me the ways of distraction." She was not, however, his prize pupil. "I wanted to get [director] Martin Scorsese's watch, but it was really difficult, so I never did." As for bilking her costar, Diaz didn't even try. "Leo? He never has anything in his pockets."

Back on Trek
Reprising her role as Counselor Deanna Troi in Star Trek: Nemesis brought back memories of Trekkie encounters for Marina Sirtis, who played the character for seven years on the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation. "I had a guy drive his truck from San Antonio to my house in California because he thought I'd communicated with him through the television set," says Sirtis, 47, who lives in the Hollywood Hills with her husband, musician Michael Lamper. "Then there was the fan who made me baby clothes for the child we were going to have together." Making the movie also brought her back to a spandex space suit. "The only good thing about the series ending was that I could finally breathe out," says Sirtis of her skintight uniform. "No one should wear spandex over the age of 15. I only want parts where I don't wear a space suit."

Name Games
Now that he's got a prime-time gig starring in NBC's Good Morning Miami, Mark Feuerstein hopes that people will learn to pronounce his name. "I've had Feverstein, Feverstone, Fire-stunkel," says the 31-year-old actor. (For the record, it's pronounced Foy-er-steen.) Still, he never considered adopting a stage name. "I can't imagine what it would be like to change it, although it's not easy to make reservations for dinner. It takes 10 minutes every time," says Feuerstein, who also stars in the romantic comedy Two Weeks Notice with Sandra Bullock. "But at least the tables are getting better."

QUOTE OF THE WEEK
I told them, 'Don't let anyone ever tell you that size doesn't matter!'
KIM CATTRALL, the Sex and the City star, on christening the Norwegian Dawn, one of the biggest cruise ships to dock in New York Harbor